Internal combustion engine



Get. 13, 1931. J, HENDERS0N 1,827,006

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE 1 Filed Oct. -1. 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct.13, 1931. J. 1.. HENDERSCN 1,327,006

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE I Filed Oct. 1, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Patented Oct. 13, 1931 d j .romT- nfrr'nixfnn'n s'oiv',o1 Booms GROVE,iNDIANA" fxNTERNnLeoMBUsTIoN ENGINE T Applicationfiledfictober 1, 920.Seria1'No.4 85,690.

{to irnproyenieiits in l The cranket of the crankshaft is disposed 1'11m l hi stion ngin s. i centrally of the lengthofthe crankcase 1 andhemttinpb'ect ofthe invention is-to proan opening 5is provided throughthe all of id ;,engi n e---in"each;gylinder o f whieh yathe crankcase inalignment With eachvof ,the ,s paii ofopposed pistons, are mounted andcyl1nders.6, hich are here SllOWIlZLIld de 55 l t lt b l-f rged dutwardby an, explosion scribed as being three in number and equallyueloccurringbetwe'en thepistons. spaced around the crankshaft.- Ea'ehcyline gziAznother pbject is to provide an engine of Ider is elongatedin form and is supportedadthecharacterdescribed in which the @pistonsjacentits ends by spacedribs or spokes 'Z and -are operatiyely-;connected by bell crank 8 radially extended from each end. of the k w el'e e isTandconnecting rods tofa crank shaft crankcase 1. -A pair, ofpistons 9 and 10 are" .a gd' 11 1 ith th ages; f th gylsl dablyvmountedin each of the: cylinders ,6,

.FiI Q ZlBrS- whereby any desired number; of yl- Wlth their-heads orendfaces turned inwardly A d rs 2 1 v b nt d di ll a ou d th and the usualpiston'rods 11and 120i these leneine Particularly adapted fO 1 6 0 alPosite Op ends 7' Ofthe'oylindemfi' Ben" remit p p I y r H y 7/ M cranklevers 14 and 15 are providedjand-the A e-further object is to.providean engine ofme are fulcr m 2 1 e n pa d ythe, character describedin a simple a d mbearing ears 17 extended outwardgfrom'the m f i t fd f3 e r bs and8 at som'e distanceinward irorn the 0 [1 f ,i g' d th bj t tth cyl1nders6. These bell crank levers 14; and with means whereby thesame inay b 'carvl5 h their g arms 18 n ede t r l ried into-effeCt;Wil1best be'undeirstood {from r t 0 6 f e e g e d p o ly the f 11 ilescripti n. f a preferfed connected at 19 to the outer ends ofth'episton ibodi1nent; .of-the invention taken in. connecrods v11 and an ltheir ive y Q q 4 1 ifl v th mpa yi d i g h er arms QOeXtended inwardtowardieach other i s I V 1 y 7 through elongatedslots 21 in the-ribs 7and in erelfl iseiiend viewomyimproved .8 whgch a wc ngm eme n e eengine constructed ,Withthree cylinders, the 53 1 be n r d, th esaldga mw ing 0 end of the crankcase being showngopen. of 1 5 6353 ,theyterminate Short. Figure 2 is an enlargedverticalCrosssC- iq t gret. fi fl l 1 I OW ill "33.1011, fihmughpthe jiupperi :Qylinder dthe l igureThese lnner ends ofthe short-arms -fiifankcaseshownin Figure 1.- v :2 rebl u wt de (z' g l bear; eiFigure 31 is-an enlarged end elevatien of 152 o s 2 311C124 are p i e in h Ends M35 themaster connecting rodandassociated link Of these or arms t bell C k illggnneqtingrdsi v .bymeans ofthe oppositely extended studs 954 i an l f d d f il id View 25on the blockswhichi are journaled' in the (mil - in section o ftheconnecting means l B 26 f e y. th l i the 4% t een, the bell cranklevers and connecting M Q The b l g blocksfllg d 24 ar b I provided-Wltll'b916S-2T eXl311deCl'at right "j fg e arg d] d 1 6 anglestothestudgflaand on a common axial e iotifi'thf g'h onof thepbppe'talves plane therew th. Sladerods 28 are rotatably Figure 61s anemia-geedetail crosssection end shdably l i fi.' h t e 1 hrough one of theyalvetappet guidesand e fie h- J Q PH i f 0f i-b l 111g kfi 55119 I I 1 p and25 1neach'set of hell erankilevers 14 and- ,.f--'{Bf e ing j w mre ftiu1afl 'Lt Fth 15-and1thesefrodsare diametrically enl-arged idrawings'thereference numeral l'desig'n'ates p i t 'm m d h r d as Shawnthecrarikc se of substantially cylindrical 2 Am fir e s w h xif -rm'gg d-th ughwwhich th single throw bearing 31-.journaled-on, the cranklaofrthe --.eranks"ha:ft*2:isjdurnaled in the bearings 3. ci'a-n'kshaft2 and two'link rods '32 and33 are P TE T-f;

l ankshafptgzdriye th same thus making th pistons arepassed outwardthrough;the; opg5 pivoted by their inner ends at 34 to this hear ing,the said bearing 31 being formed of two sections 35 and 36 joinedtogether by bolts 37 in the usual manner. The outer ends of the masterconnecting rod 30 and the link rods 32 and 33 are provided withapertures 38 in which are mounted the enlarged central portions 29 ofthe slide rods 28, the bell crank levers 14 and 15 being thus connectedto the crankshaft 2 through the connecting rod assembly.

Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings, the pistons 9 and 10 are shown intheir innermost position or in the position at which the mixture isfired between them. Upon the explosion of the fuel between the pistonsthey will be forced outwardly in the cylinder 6 causing the longer arms18 of the bell crank levers 14 and 15 to swing outward from the ends ofthe cylinder and raise the short arms 20. This action pulls upward uponthe master connecting rod 30 and partially rotates the crankshaft 2, thepistons in the other cylinders 6 then acting in the same manner and inthe proper sequence to continue the rotation of the crankshaft in theusual manner. Upon an outward movement of the shorter arms 20 of thebell crank levers the inner bifurcated ends 22 thereof move apart aswill be understood and the bearing blocks 23 and 24 move outward on theslide rods 28, the latter at the same time rotating slightly in the saidbearing blocks as the connecting rod assembly swings in driving thecrankshaft. In order to brace the short arms 20 of the bell crank levers14 and 15 against the lateral stress brought about by the rotation ofthe bearing 31 of the connecting rod assembly arcuate side pieces 39 aresecured on each side of the said arms 20 by screws 40, the said sidepieces 39 extending inwardly between the crankcase 1 and the ribs 7 and8.

Spark plugs 41 are seated in the walls of the cylinders 6 at thelongitudinal centers thereof and are connected in the usual manner withthe conventional timer and high tension magneto (not shown). Intake andexhaust valves 42 and 43 are provided on each cylinder 6 and the sameinclude the housings 44 secured on the outer wall of the cylinders ateach side of the spark plugs 41. Conventional poppet valves 45 aremounted in the housings 44 and are spring set by coil springs 46 tonormally seat in seats 47 formed at the inner ends of ports 48 providedin the walls of the cylinders 6 as shown in Figure 5. Valve rocker arms49 are fulcrumed at 50 in brackets 51, on the valve housing 44 and theserocker arms engage the stems of the valves 45 in the usual manner. Anintake and exhaust cam 52 is freely mounted on the crankshaft 2 andcarries the gear 54, the whole turning independently of the crankshaft.A pinion 55 fixed on the crankshaft 2 meshes with a gear 56 on a countershaft 57 journaled in the crankcase and a pinion 58 on this countershaft 57 meshes with the gear 54 to drive the cam 52 at a fraction ofthe speed of the crankshaft. Tubular valve tappet guides 59 are mountedthrough the wall of the crankcase 1 at some distance to each side of theradii passing through the crankshaft 2 and cylinders 6 and valve tappets60 are slidably mounted through these guides 59 and spring set by coilsprings 61 to normally move inward toward the crankshaft. Valve tappetrollers 62 are journaled in the forked inner ends of the valve tappets60 and are adapted to ride the cam 52 in the usual manner. Valve pushrods 63 are pivoted by one end at 64 to the valve tappets 60 and arepivoted at their other ends to the valve rocker arms 49 as shown at 65.The arrangement is such that the intake and exhaust valvesof eachcylinder are opened in the proper sequence and in accordance with theusual four cycle principle. The usual intake and exhaust manifolds (notshown) are connected to the valve housings 44 in the conventionalmanner.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that I provide a simple,eflicient, powerful and compactly arranged engine and while the same ishere shown as embodying three cylinders it is to be understood that anyother desired number or arrangement of cylinders may be used as desired.Also, while the engine is particularly adapted for use on aircraft dueto its decreased head resistance relative to the usual engine of equalpower, it is understood that the engine may be used for other purposesas for instance on automobiles. V

While I have herein set forth a certain preferred embodiment of myinvention it 'is understood that I may vary from the same in minorstructural details, so as best to construct a practical device for thepurposes intended, not departing from the spiritof the invention andwithin the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a device of the kind described, a cylinder having open ends, acrank shaft journaled Parallel with the cylinder, a pair of opposedpistons in the cylinder, piston rods extended from the pistons outthrough the open ends of the cylinder, bell crank levers connected atone end to the said piston rods, bearing blocks pivoted in the otherends of the bell crank levers, a slide rod slidably mounted through thesaid bearing blocks and a connecting rod connecting the said slide rodand crankshaft.

2. In a device of the kind described, a cylinder having open ends, apair of opposed pistons in the cylinder, a crankshaft journaled parallelwith the cylinder, bell crank levers, and means connecting the bellcrank levers and the pistons and crank shaft for rotation of thecrankshaft by reciprocation of the pistons in the cylinder.

Y ,3. In a device of the kind described, a cylinder having open ends, apair of opposed pistons mounted in the cylinder, a crankshaft journaledparallel with the cylinder, a connecting rod mounted on the crankshaft,a

pair of bell crank levers comprising long and short arms, piston rodsconnectin the said pistons and the long arms of the ell crank levers,and asslidable and rotatable connection between the short arms of thebell v nectin crank levers and the connecting rod.

4. In a device of the kind described, a cylinder having open ends, apair of opposed pistons mounted in the cylinder a crankshaft journaledparallel with the cylinder, a conrod mounted on the crankshaft, a bellcrank levers comprising long and pair 0 the said short arms, piston rods'connectin pistons and the long arms'of the e11 crank I levers, and aslidable and rotatable connection between theshort arms of the bellcrank levers and the connecting rod, the said'slidable and rotatableconnection comprising bearing blocks journaled in the ends of the saidshort arms of the bell crank levers, and a slide rod secured to theconnecting rod and slidably and rotatably mounted in the. said bearingblocks. v

5. In a device of the kind described, a crankshaft, a plurality ofcylinders arranged around the crankshaft and parallel therewith, a pairof pistons in each cylinder, bell crank levers arranged at each end ofthe cylinders, and means connectin the pistons, bell crank levers andthe cran shaft for rotation of the latter by the reciprocation of thesaidpistons in the cylinders. V y

In testimony whereof I aflix my si ature;

' JOHN L, HENDER ON.

